


The little girl I carried

by medusa20



Category: Big Bang Theory
Genre: Father/Daughter, Gen, farm violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-31
Updated: 2011-07-31
Packaged: 2017-11-10 18:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medusa20/pseuds/medusa20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse into some pivotal moments as Penny grows up in Nebraska</p>
            </blockquote>





	The little girl I carried

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is a remix of the incredible LadyHouston's "And dreams aren't what they used to be". The prompt on Paradox asked for a companion piece with Penny and her father

When Penny was eight, she fell in love with _Charlotte's Web_. Her mother wasn't surprised by it- they lived on a farm, livestock everywhere and Penny was the exact same age as Fern so the love affair with that book was inevitable. It annoyed Wyatt, her father, to no end.

"That book is putting all sorts of foolish notions in her head." Wyatt growled to his wife when he saw Penny sitting on the porch swing with her nose buried in the book. "How many times has she read it? Four? Five, maybe?"

"Oh Wyatt, what are you fussin's about?" Penny's mother scolded. "It's a harmless book- a classic, actually."

"It's giving her ideas, Peggy." Wyatt put down his coffee. "She asked if we could get pigs the other day. Pigs! This is a working farm. She should know better than to get attached to livestock."

Peggy merely shook her head and wiped down the counter, "It's just a story, Wyatt."

Wyatt looked at his youngest daughter, holding her paperback to her chest and staring with a dreamy expression on her face. His eyes narrowed.

The next morning was clear and cold. Wyatt crept into Penny's bedroom. She was balled up under her blankets; a messy ponytail balanced atop her head.

"Penny." He shook her gently. "Hey, Penny."

Her eyes blinked for a few minutes the turned to him. Wyatt always marveled at their color- a green as clear as jade just like his mother's.

"Daddy?' Penny's voice was soft, a little rough with sleep still. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, darlin'. I just thought you'd like to come with me to check on the sheep in the pasture."

Penny whipped off her covers and was into jeans and a shirt in no time.

"Put on a sweatshirt," her father advised. "It's not dawn yet and it's still cold."

Wyatt ambled down the stairs with Penny bouncing behind him. Before they left the house, he stopped at the locked closet, opened it and drew out his shotgun.

"Whatcha doin' with the shotgun, Daddy?" Penny's brow puckered.

"Precaution." Wyatt answered. "It's early enough for coyotes to still be about plus you never know what you'll find in the fields."

They walked past the barn, even the horses were still sleeping. Not a sound came from there. The hens were starting to move about and Penny shrieked as the rooster let out a long lingering call just as they passed by. He opened one of the gates to let Penny walk through first, catching the tip of her ponytail between his thumb and forefinger.

"Daddy." She scolded and tugged her hair free.

The soft bleating of sheep reached Wyatt's ears. From this distance, the pasture appeared to be filled with an undulating gray haze. As they drew closer, the various characteristics that defined individual sheep became clear. Penny ran to the far gate and climbed up. He saw her stretch out her hand to pat the sheep as they walked by.

"Are we going in, Daddy?"

Wyatt nodded and Penny unlatched the gate, opening it just enough for her to squeeze though but not the sheep. Wyatt came directly after her and locked them inside. He looked around for Penny and found her in the middle of the pasture with sheep swirling all around her. She laughed and told him they smelled. Wyatt nodded and pushed up the brim of his hate.

"C'mon , Pen. Gotta take a look around. That's what farmers do." She took his hand and they walked toward the other end of the pasture.

Suddenly, Penny began tugging on his hand. "What's that noise, Daddy?"

Wyatt stopped to listen. He knew instantly what it was. He looked down at his small daughter and almost told her to go back to the house. Of course, this was the exact moment he was looking for so sending Penny away would defeat the purpose.

"Let's go see." He headed in the direction of the sound.

Along the eastern side of the pasture, right where the fence began to curve, there was a lamb. It lay on its side in the grass, bleating in agony. Penny's steps slowed by his side.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Don't know, Sweetie." Wyatt kept his voice even. "We'll have to check."

He continued forward. The lamb raised its head and wailed again. Its rear leg was hanging at an odd angle. The bite marks were obvious and Wyatt quickly surmised what happened. A coyote must have managed to get its head under the fencing. The predator bit the lamb on its leg and broke the bone but was unable to haul its catch under the wire.

"Is its leg broken?' Penny stood just behind him; Wyatt nodded in reply.

"Are you going to fix him, Daddy?"

Wyatt released the safety on the shotgun and raised it up. The lamb cried out once more. Penny's head whipped back and forth between them; her eyes widened in horror.

"You're not gonna shoot it!" She shouted. Her hands reached toward her father but she had been raised around guns enough to know you didn't grab anyone holding a loaded gun. "Daddy, no. Please. I'll take care of it. It's just a baby."

"Penny, this lamb is suffering…"

"So we'll make it better." She protested. "It's just a broken leg. Can't you call the vet…"

Her voice trailed off as Wyatt pulled back the hammer. The lamb, sensing even more distress, began to struggle to get up. Penny ran over to it.

"Penny," her father barked. "Get out of the way."

"No!' She shouted. Her face was red with unshed tears. "No. This is cruel. You don't have to kill it. You wouldn't shoot me if I had a broken leg." She threw her arms around the lamb's neck.

 _That damn book_ , Wyatt thought, lowering the shotgun. He knew Fern said something similar to her father. Well, Wyatt was no John Arable.

"Penny, I am going to tell you one more time. Get away from that lamb. You're hurting it more than helping it."

"But, Daddy.."

"No buts, Penny. This is the way a farm runs. I've got no time for sick or gravely injured animals- I can buy another lamb for the cost of caring for this one."

'Daddy, please…" Penny blubbered. Wyatt motioned with the shotgun for her to move.

"Penny." He raised the shotgun. His voice was firm. His daughter got to his feet. Her glance was full of disappointment and reproach; she began to walk away.

"Now where are you going?' Wyatt turned from the sheep.

Penny didn't answer him; she just kept walking toward the gate. Wyatt set his sights on the lamb once more and pulled the trigger.

He was the first man to break her heart.

XXXX

Wyatt woke to the sound of a blaring horn. His one day to sleep in- Sunday- and some blasted fool was leaning on a horn in his driveway. He scrabbled out of bed and peered out the window. Penny stood near his pickup, her hand pressed firmly in the center of the steering wheel. Wyatt threw open the window.

"Penny! What in hell.."

"Daddy! You're up!' She beamed.

"Me and the rest of the county!" Wyatt shouted back. "Now stop that racket!"

Surprisingly, she did. Penny's teen years had not been easy on Wyatt. They battled often over the most inconsequential things. On some level, he just couldn't get past the fact that the little girl who would make him mud pies and spend hours playing catch on the front lawn was somewhere inside this young woman who painted her nails every Thursday night and now spent hours on the phone.

`"Come on, Dad." Penny's voice called to him. "You promised!"

Wyatt had no idea exactly what he had promised but he put on his clothes and walked out to his daughter in the driveway.

"Penny, what's this all about?" Wyatt adjusted his baseball cap. Her face fell slightly.

"You said you would give me my first driving lesson when I got a B or higher on my next Algebra test." Penny reached into the back pocket of jean shorts that were (in Wyatt's opinion) far too short and far too tight. She held the folded paper out to him.

His eyes fell on the circled grade in the corner,"97! Nice work, Slugger."

Penny's face grew pink at his words, "You haven't called me that in awhile."

"Well, you haven't knocked something out of the park like you did this test in a while." Wyatt answered and immediately regretted it. He saw Penny withdraw before his very eyes. Peggy lectured him about this-how he couldn't leave well enough alone. When things were going well between him and Penny, either she or he would make some remark which changed the tone of their entire interaction. He sighed.

"Let's get going, then. I promised you but the chores around here don't do themselves." He ignored Penny's rolling eyes and went around to the passenger side.

She clambered into the seat and eagerly held out her hand for the keys.

"Now, one second here, Penny." Wyatt drawled. Penny sighed and gripped the wheel. "A car is not a toy. Driving is a tremendous responsibility. You must always be aware of what is going on around you- particularly the car in front of you because.." Wyatt paused in his speech when he caught his daughter mouthing the words along with him.

"Dad, I'm just going to drive on our land so can we save the lecture for another time?"

Wyatt adjusted his hat once more, "No we cannot. It doesn't matter if you're driving down our driveway or out on the highway. Driving is a privilege not a right. That's your problem, Penny. You never consider the consequences."

Once again, he realized he had gone too far. Penny bit her lip and stared fixedly out the window.

"Can we avoid a lecture just once, Dad?" Her voice was low. "I haven't even driven yet and you're accusing me of killing half the people on the road."

"You're right." Wyatt handed her the keys. Penny's smile returned as she turned the engine over. "Just one more thing."

Penny's sigh ended in a low growl, "What?"

Wyatt looked into her eyes, "Think of the gas pedal as an eggshell. You don't want to break the egg."

"Got it." Penny nodded curtly. "Eggshell."

She tugged on the gear shift, gave her father a small smile then floored the car. The truck roared toward the end of the driveway. Wyatt clutched his arm rest on the door. Penny let out a whoop of laughter. The speedometer climbed close to fifty until he reached over with his foot and slammed on the brake. The truck skidded and fish-tailed before coming to a stop, nearly taking out the mailbox.

"Yee ha!" Penny crowed next to him. Wyatt felt like his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

'Dammit, Penny! Is that how you treat an eggshell!" Wyatt reached over and threw the truck in park. "Get out of the driver's seat. Right now!" He pushed at her until he could slide behind the wheel. Penny climbed back in and stared down at her hands. Once she was back on the passenger side, he resumed his lecturing.

"I specifically told you to go easy on the gas. You don't listen. You just can't take off like that."

Except, four years later, that's exactly what she did.

XXXX

Wyatt entered the house through the front door once he saw Penny go in through the back one. The sounds of the backyard barbecue filtered in through the window. Penny stood by the sink, staring out at her boyfriend Kurt who was, most definitely, staring at Penny's friend Christie. Christie was making no secret of the fact that she was staring back.

"How's it going, Pen?'

"Great, Dad." Penny smiled then made quite a show of trying to unmold a Jell-O salad. Wyatt took the ring mold from her and ran some hot water over it. He slid a plate under the mold and lifted it to reveal a gleaming yellow sun studded with grapes.

"Eww." They said in unison.

"I don't know why your Aunt Julia insists on making this thing. Nobody ever eats it. She made one for your sister's graduation, too." Wyatt set the plate on the counter. Penny wasn't listening. Kurt was now standing by the table with all the salads and side dishes; Christie had just fed him a spoonful of baked beans.

"Listen, Penny…"

"Don't, Dad." She held up a warning hand. "I'm really not in the mood for the 'Kurt is not the one for you' lecture."

"Look what he's doing!' Wyatt exploded. "If he can behave like that in front of your family, I can't even imagine how he treats you when it's just the two of you."

"You don't understand." Penny began piling rolls into a large bowl.

"I understand he's out there in front of your entire extended family letting one of your friends feed him strawberries.'

Penny's head jerked up, "That no good, lying…" she began to walk out the door.

"Go get 'im, Slugger." Wyatt cheered.

"I'm talking about Christie." Penny headed for the door but Wyatt blocked her path.

"Penny, just listen to your old man a sec."

She crossed her arms over her chest and blew air through her bangs. Wyatt watched as she tried desperately not to give in to the tears that threatened to spill.

"This Kurt, he's not the guy for you."

"You say that about every guy I bring home, Dad."

"Well, it's true." Wyatt smiled. "Haven't been wrong yet, have I? It's just Kurt's managed to stick around a bit longer."

"Why do you hate him so much?" Penny scuffed at the floor with her sandal.

"Because he makes you feel like this." Wyatt brushed away an errant tear on her cheek. "Because he does things like that." He jerked a thumb toward the window. "Because you deserve a guy as amazing and unique as you are."

Penny ran the back of her hand under her nose. She sniffled

Wyatt pulled her into his arms, "I just want what's best for you, Sweetie. Someday, you're going to meet a guy who's gonna do all sorts of things he never thought he would just because of you. He'll strive to be a better man just for you." The screen door slammed. Penny stepped out of her father's arms as Kurt walked into the kitchen.

"What'd ya get lost in here?" Kurt jeered.

"I'm talking to my father, is that alright with you?' Penny snapped. Wyatt picked up the Jell-O mold and began walking out.

"Dad?"

Wyatt looked over his shoulder, "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He smiled at her, "Anytime, Sweetie. Anytime."

Over the years, as she dealt with Sheldon, Penny lost track of the times she recalled that conversation in the kitchen with her father.

_The End._


End file.
